News

The demographics of the global workforce have shifted over the past decade. The new normal consists of a wide range of employment arrangements, including temporary workers, seasonal workers, on-call workers and immigrant labor. As a profession, we must do more to safeguard at-risk workers who make up significant portions of today’s labor pool.

The demographics of the global workforce have shifted over the past decade. The new normal consists of a wide range of employment arrangements, including temporary workers, seasonal workers, on-call workers and immigrant labor. As a profession, we must do more to safeguard at-risk workers who make up significant portions of today’s labor pool.

The American Society of Safety Engineers invites safety professionals to register for its virtual symposium entitled, “Protecting Temporary and Non-Traditional Workers,” where they will learn the best practices in hiring and training this working class.

The names of agencies such as OSHA and NIOSH contain the word health, and many of us refer to ourselves as occupational safety and health professionals. Yet, most of our efforts are focused on safety. Now is an opportune time for us to bring much-needed attention to the health-related aspects of our roles.

The American Society of Safety Engineers, the world’s oldest professional safety society, encourages occupational health and safety professionals to hone their knowledge and skills, including the potential of earning recertification points, by registering now for SeminarFest 2015, Feb. 6-12, 2015 in Las Vegas.

Texas City refinery. Upper Big Branch mine. Deepwater Horizon. Tazreen Fashions factory. Rana Plaza. Each of these tragedies was caused by a chain of events that included safety and health system deficiencies. They have something else in common, too: They all caused significant damage to the reputations of the organizations involved.
So what does this mean to OSH professionals? It presents us with a significant opportunity to engage our executive leaders.

U.K.'s Health and Safety Executive has released statistics on workplace fatalities and injuries for 2013-2014. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has created an infographic, "Behind the Annual Statistics," to illustrate the findings.

OSHA, NIOSH and National Service, Transmission, Exploration & Production Safety Network have signed a 2-year alliance to help prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities among workers in the exploration and production sector within the oil and gas industry.